Land Ho!

No, that doesn't mean I am dying (well, I guess it does...) but that I can see where I am going!

I am a vessel. God is my Craftsman; Jesus, my Captain. I fly the flag of Love and sail the oceans of affliction. There are 6-billion islands to stop at on the way to my Maker's kingdom, so I'd better get started! God is in control, so there is nothing to shy away from. Frightening and disheartening things are basically the foundation of this sinful world, so they will be inevitable sights along the way. However, they have no ability to stop us if we have a mind to keep God closer-to-heart than anything else we might encounter.

"God does not simply roll the dice to decide the fate of man, he picks up the die and places it wherever he likes." ~Yours Truly

That is to say he knows just what goes on with us and won't simply be whimsically helping us as he feels up to it. God always has a reason; we as human simply make up excuses for his lack of insight when things seem to go wrong and stay wrong. They really only go wrong though when we let them affect us. Think of it instead as a lack of wind, a temporary block in the road that will be overcome in time. That way, we can continue past our personal troubles and reach out with God's comforting hand to those who can't get over it themselves.

I now have the book "Maritide", which that quote above is from, up for download here.

"Lots are cast into the lap, but they are disposed of by the Lord." ~Proverbs 16:33

God's Got It

To cover a very small part of a huge and interesting topic, this is a quote from the Secular Web site which gives arguments against God.

"The idea here is that God must allow some short term suffering in order to achieve a greater good. The analogy employed by professor Kreeft involves a hunter who is trying to free a bear from a trap, but cannot because the bear is liable to react violently, incorrectly perceiving the hunter as a threat. The hunter must therefore use tranquilizer darts and the like, which also would seem to the bear as harmful, in order to achieve what is ultimately best for the bear, i.e. freedom from the trap. The analogy is, of course, Hunter = God, Bear = Human."

 The author of this post goes on to "disprove" God as being good when he cannot simply take the problem away, therefore he must not be omnipotent. What he is not seeing, however, is that if God took control of every situation and fixed every problem, then 1) The world would be perfect and no one would be able to mess up, and 2) No one would have the ability to mess up and therefore would neither have the ability to make the right choice.

This reminds me of life after WW2. The American dream was to have a family, a house, and a stable job, but what this did was make everyone exactly the same as their neighbors. It brought about depression for young adults wanting to forge their own life paths. This is a quote from an essay I did on the topic:

"Machinism was thought to be a result of omnipotent regimes, or governments that placed pressure upon the ways of civilian life, when a lot of that was only an idea."

Basically, we would become robots if we served a God who would intervene on all our decisions without our consent. That doesn't mean he won't help those in need and answer prayers from an honest heart.

So there. I've said it. :)

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ~John 15:7

Who WILL You Serve?

Letting the Will Be the Master of the Heart

 Tozer's Devotional (April 24)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ~Colossians 3:1

Because the will is master of the heart, it is important to realize that the root of all evil in human nature is the corruption of the will!

The thoughts and intents of the heart are wrong and as a consequence the whole life is wrong.  Repentance is primarily a change of moral purpose, a sudden and often violent reversal of the soul's direction.

 

The prodigal son took his first step upward from the pig sty when he said, "I will arise and go to my father." As he had once willed to leave his father's house, now he willed to return.

To love God with all our heart we must first of all will to do so.  We should repent our lack of love and determine from this moment on to make God the object of our devotion.  We should read the Scriptures devotionally and set our affections on things above and aim our hearts toward Christ and heavenly things!

If we do these things we may be sure that we shall experience a wonderful change in our whole inward life. Our emotions will become disciplined and directed. We shall begin to taste the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ. The whole life, like a delicate instrument, will be tuned to sing the praises of Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood!
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Speaking of Will Power...(<-- Link)

Holy Machination

But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I. ~John 5:17

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ~Ecclesiastes 3:11

"In every age, there is some good. God is ever present, ever eager to be found if men will look." ~Stephen R. Lawhead (Merlin, pg.191)

The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. ~Isaiah 55:10-11

After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. ~John 10:4

He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. ~Exodus 15:2

Concluding Comments:

God: Whew! I just created a 24-hour period of alternating light and darkness on Earth.
Angel: What are you going to do now?
God: I think I'll call it a day.

The Fictitious World

"Oh, we struggle against a cunning Adversary. Never doubt it. We move about on our crust of earth and we imagine we see the world as it is. What we see is the world we imagine.

No man sees the world as it is." ~Merlin pg.194

Music, books, TV...all that these timeless works fiction strive to do is bring us to a place where we don't have to deal with what's real. It's the essence of all human arts. Art is an illusion. Free choice, however deceiving, is not. God does not govern our lives as though we are dumb animals. We have a choice and are guided in how to use that freedom, which brings me to my second point.

The most epic historical piece I know of that was intended for growth only is the bible. None of it was ever taken to fictitious or wrongly-inspired authors, and yet it holds such potential for the losing of oneself in all its glory. The word of God moves to such un-proposed desires, motivations, and the Word is always living and striving to win the hearts of men. God's own spirit flows freely through those who surrender their flags to His...often uncertain cause. Thus, while pieces of amazingly crafted fiction can be uplifting in nearly every way, it can also hold opposite. Like anything, fiction has the potential for either taking up the timeless example of scripture, or slighting it; the defining line toward our only true reference to life's (God's) very real calling.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. ~Isaiah 9:2

It takes some extreme faith to know what's real sometimes, to know what to do (and where God is) in hard situations.

Things may feel strange, like somehow God just isn't there sometimes, but He is. Always. You have only to look for Him. 

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

~1 Corinthians 3:16

 

Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

~1 Samuel 2:30

O, Terra Ditty!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. ~Psalm 19:1-6

God did not make beauty, such as nature, for himself (at least directly), but for us, who can experience it and turn around and praise him for it. Praise God for full moons and a cool night breeze! It would not be beautiful if we were not made to experience it.

Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart. ~John 7:38

His song sings on into the night, along the breeze, across the lands of the living, and pierces the hearts of those who care to listen. His song goes on forever! (<-- Go ahead and hit that link)

Perpetual Daven

To think about: Why do the hots and colds of life always seem to pull us closer to God than when we are satisfied with the temp. outside?

 

Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?...Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ~Romans 7:21-24, 8:1-2